Oklahoma governor indicators the nation’s strictest abortion ban

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt on Wednesday signed into legislation the nation’s strictest abortion ban, making the state the primary in the nation to effectively end availability of the procedure.

State lawmakers accredited the ban enforced by civil lawsuits somewhat than felony prosecution, similar to a Texas regulation that was handed final 12 months. The legislation takes effect immediately upon Stitt’s signature and prohibits all abortions with few exceptions. Abortion suppliers have stated they may cease performing the process as quickly as the invoice is signed.

“I promised Oklahomans that as governor I might signal every piece of pro-life laws that got here throughout my desk and I am proud to maintain that promise at this time,” the first-term Republican mentioned in an announcement. “From the moment life begins at conception is when we have now a responsibility as human beings to do every little thing we can to guard that baby’s life and the life of the mom. That is what I consider and that's what the vast majority of Oklahomans imagine.”

Abortion suppliers across the country have been bracing for the chance that the U.S. Supreme Courtroom’s new conservative majority may additional limit the follow, and that has especially been the case in Oklahoma and Texas.

“The affect will probably be disastrous for Oklahomans,” stated Elizabeth Nash, a state policy analyst for the abortion-rights supporting Guttmacher Institute. “It should even have severe ripple effects, especially for Texas patients who had been touring to Oklahoma in giant numbers after the Texas six-week abortion ban went into effect in September.”

The bills are a part of an aggressive push in Republican-led states to reduce abortion rights. It comes on the heels of a leaked draft opinion from the nation’s high court that implies justices are considering weakening or overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade choice that legalized abortion almost 50 years ago.

The only exceptions within the Oklahoma legislation are to save the lifetime of a pregnant lady or if the being pregnant is the result of rape or incest that has been reported to law enforcement.

The bill particularly authorizes doctors to remove a “dead unborn child caused by spontaneous abortion,” or miscarriage, or to take away an ectopic being pregnant, a doubtlessly life-threatening emergency that happens when a fertilized egg implants outdoors the uterus, often in a fallopian tube and early in pregnancy.

The law also does not apply to using morning-after tablets such as Plan B or any type of contraception.

Two of Oklahoma’s 4 abortion clinics already stopped providing abortions after the governor signed a six-week ban earlier this month.

With the state’s two remaining abortion clinics expected to cease offering services, it is unclear what is going to happen to girls who qualify beneath one of many exceptions. The legislation’s writer, State Rep. Wendi Stearman, says docs will likely be empowered to resolve which women qualify and that these abortions will be carried out in hospitals. But providers and abortion-rights activists warn that trying to prove qualification may prove troublesome and even harmful in some circumstances.

In addition to the Texas-style invoice already signed into legislation, the measure is one in every of no less than three anti-abortion payments sent this yr to Stitt.

Oklahoma’s legislation is styled after a first-of-its-kind Texas legislation that the U.S. Supreme Court has allowed to remain in place that permits private citizens to sue abortion providers or anybody who helps a woman receive an abortion. Different Republican-led states sought to repeat Texas’ ban. Idaho’s governor signed the primary copycat measure in March, though it has been briefly blocked by the state’s Supreme Court

The third Oklahoma invoice is to take effect this summer season and would make it a felony to carry out an abortion, punishable by as much as 10 years in jail. That bill contains no exceptions for rape or incest.